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Romney Was The Best in ’08 but in ’12…

I Proudly Supported Romney and Voted for him in the 2008 Primary in my state’s primary over John McCain. Romney recieved 186,838 or 34.5% of the Total Primary Votes here in Senator John McCain’s Home State. McCain ended up winning with 255,197 or 47.2% of the Total Primary Vote in AZ. McCain is the Senior Senator here. It was expected. It was still not a bad overall showing for someone many Arizonians have probably never heard of before. Romney was more conservative than McCain in 2008 and was running a much more conservative campaign than McCain. That is why I liked him, supported him and ultimately voted for Romney over McCain in the AZ Primary. I still Like and Support the most conservative candidate at the time of my state’s primary election. Romney was it at that time back in 2008. That being said. This is not 2008 anymore and Romney is not the most conservative candidate running for President in this GOP field this time around. Now conservatives like me have other conservative candidates to choose from from the likes of Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Herman Cain. With a lingering threat still hanging around out there about a possible Sarah Palin run.

This blog post is not intended to compare Governor Mitt Romney to Senator John McCain. That is not my intention or goal with this blog post. However, I do want to point out legitimate concerns and reasonable complaints that conservatives like me have against governor Mitt Romney now that they may or may not have had back in the 2008 GOP Primary against McCain.

Governor Mitt Romney may be leading in most generic national MSM and online polls right now. Most Romney supporters and advocates are doing their best to sell Romney as the candidate “Most Qualified”, “Best Equiped” and “Most Prepared” to beat Obama in 2012. I have even seen an article written on RedState.com showing electoral votes proving Romney would defeat obama right now if the election was held today.

Is that accurate? Is this really the case? Or is this wishful thinking? Optimisim for “the next guy in line”? Now this is what this blog post is going to be about. How and why the same conservatives like me who may have supported Romney back in 2008 may not be doing so this 2012. (unless he wins the nomination)

Who recieved the most attention at the Ames State Fair in Iowa? Was it Governor Mitt Romney? Governor Rick Perry? Representative Michele Bachmann? Governor Tim Pawlenty? Rick Santorum? Herman Cain? Ron Paul? I’d Argue and say it was Sarah Palin Who recieved the most attention of the people attending the state fair and the press covering the event. Am I wrong? I don’t think so!

I wonder why that is? Many people probably have diferent opinions about that but Sarah Palin has still not officially announced to run for president yet. Why all of the attention in who she is and what she has to say right now?

There was a lot of talk about Representative Michele Bachmann because Bachmann won the Ames Straw Poll. It is only natural and practical Bachmann was receiving as much attention as she did. My point is Sarah Palin was the big hit at the Ames State Fair just before the Iowa Straw Poll. Not Romney, Perry or even Bachmann. I have my thoughts and ideas of why I think that is.

Former Governor Sarah Palin maintains her relevence by continuing to speak out on Fox News with Sean Hannity, Social Networking Media Sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and staying in the headlines of most national newspapers across America.

It is more than that though. It is more than just my personal opinion. Let’s take a look at the numbers which shows who is showing support for Palin and who is showing support for Romney.

Sarah Palin has 3,224,762 “Likes” or people following her on Facebook to Mitt Romney’s 1,082,088 “Likes” A Difference of at least 2,142,674 less People “Following” Romney than Palin.

Sarah Palin has 632,736 “Followers” on Twitter to Mitt Romney’s 72,529 “Followers” A Difference of at least 560,207 less people “Following” Romney than Palin.

So why are conservatives like me favoring Sarah Palin over Mitt Romney for 2012?

10. Here’s Sen. Rubio (R-FL) talking honestly and directly about Medicare, and about the GOP’s approach to saving it.

America needs Medicare. We need it to continue without any benefit reductions for those like my mother currently in the system…. And we need it to survive for my generation and my children’s generation.

But Medicare is going bankrupt. Anyone who says it is not is simply lying. And anyone who is in favor of doing nothing to deal with this fact is in favor of bankrupting it. Medicare will go broke in as little as nine years. No one likes this news, but it is the undeniable truth. And the sooner we begin to deal with it, the better off we are all going to be.

Now try to imagine Mitt Romney giving this speech. Imagine him trying to tell Americans “Hey, I’ve got some hard truths to tell, and the other guys are the liars here. But me? When I saw something—you can trust me!”

Even Mitt fans would have a hard time buying this. Why? Because he lacks a fundamental credibility. It’s not the Romney’s a notorious liar, it’s that he’s an unflinching champion of the timely flip flop. And step one is to avoid declarative statements that can be clearly contradicted.

For example, here is Rubio on Ryan’s plan:

Rep. Paul Ryan has offered a plan that would make no changes whatsoever for anyone age 55 and older. I support it because, right now, it is the only plan out there that helps save Medicare. Democrats oppose it. Fine. But, if they have a better way to save Medicare, what are they waiting for to show us? What is their plan to save Medicare?

Now compare that to Romney’s position on the Ryan plan:

Like Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget, [Romney’s new healthcare proposal] includes block-granting Medicaid funds to states, but doesn’t include any changes to Medicare.

Romney said he would unveil his Medicare agenda at a later date, adding that although it wouldn’t be identical to what Ryan proposed, it would include features that he said took advantage of “market dynamics” and added choice.

So no. I won’t go so far to say that Mitt Romney is the John McCain of 2012 or even call him a “RINO” as some in conservative circles do. I actually still like Mitt Romney and would absolutely vote for him if he is the Republican nominee. That being said, I don’t think America will choose Mitt Romney in 2012 just like they didn’t choose him in 2008. Mitt Romney lost to John McCain in 2008 and I predict he will lose again to Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich. Nothing against Mitt but America Needs a Solid, Articulate, Passionate and Battle-Hardened Champion to Lead and Represent them as President going forward. As Good as Mitt Romney may have been or still is, Romney’s Best still falls short again in 2012. Sorry Mitt.